Hatch
by momewrathsway
Summary: When the men decide to go back and fix up the hatch, there are some unusual malfunctions that cause them to get locked inside. Not really a romance, but there is some CC action.
1. Chapter 1

The men had been working on the repairing of the hatch for about three hours now. Sayid used his experience to what seemed to be the most important task, fixing the computer Locke had broken. He'd made relatively good progress after Echo retrieved the monitor from the computer in the other hatch and managed to get it up in running. Now all he had to do was figure out how to get the metal box that used to perform the count down back in business after the magnetic field had forced it to cave in on itself.

Desmond has assigned himself to fixing all the wires that had been blown during the explosion, having the most knowledge about the electrical system in the hatch. After reattaching all the wiring that had been snapped and dislodged during the explosions, he managed to get most of the electricity running. A few lights still flickered here an there, but for the most part, everything seemed to be working.

Charlie had taken on the task of cleaning, which wasn't as easy as it sounded. After moving the larger objects such as book shelves and washing machines back to their rightful space, he began working on easier things such as moving the furniture back out of the hall way.

Locke, who was a bit out of it after having almost killed the entire island, mostly just did an easy pick up, gathering all the books and smaller objects that had fallen from the shelves, dazed as he moved from space to space gathering them up.

Charlie eyed him curiously as he single handedly tried shifting the couch back against the wall, wondering how he, being the smallest man in the room, got stuck doing the manual labor while Locke, the golly bald giant, was free to wonder aimlessly and occasionaly pick up a book. Expseicaly since this whole mess was his fault. And here he had said Charlie was dangerous.

"Hey. Mind giving me a hand" he questioned, unable maneuver the couch through the door way by himself. Locke didn't respond, lost in his dream like mental state, and continued to wonder about like a zombie as he picked up a hand full of shredded magazines and placed them on top of the desk. Charlie grimaced, about ready to give him a piece of his mind when Echo placed a calming hand on his shoulder.

"Just leave him alone, Charlie. He feels bad enough" Echo suggested wisely, watching as Locke made his way down the hall. "Funny. When Claire left me I felt like shit. He didn't leave me alone. In fact, he punched me in the face" Charlie replied bitterly, his voice a low growl as he smiled at the thought of revenge.

"You never almost killed any body" Echo reminded, giving him a look to told Charlie to let this one go. Charlie sighed, knowing he was right, and went back to pulling on the end of the couch, this time managing to force it through. Echo helped him move it back the rest of the way, watching in concern as Charlie leaned over the edge, sweaty and out of breath.

"Perhaps you should take a break, Charlie" Echo suggested, knowing that his fatigue may be due to the injuries he'd gotten in the explosion. After all, just because he didn't look that bad physically, he could still have a concussion or even some internal bleeding.

"Not thanks. I helped make it, I can help clean it up" Charlie confirmed, trying to hide his annoyance at Echo's suggestion. Echo signed and patted him on his shoulder, as if commending him for his work, which only agitated him more. He made a face once Echo's back was turned, knowing that doing it to his face would have been immature and worthy of a beating with the Jesus stick.

He straightened back up, the muscles in his back throbbing, and headed into the hall to bring in one of the arm chairs. He'd heard the door pull open and assumed it was just Echo heading out side for one reason or another, perhaps taking his own advice and having a little brake. But after a moment, Claire wondered inside, her eyes wide as she looked around the cluttered hatch with its messy floors and papers flying through the air.

As soon as Charlie spotted her, the hatch turned into one great big danger zone. The wires in the walls, the forks on the floors, everything screamed hazardous as Claire made her way through the hall, unaware of the dangers that surrounded her.

"Claire!" Charlie called, quickly dropping his attempt at the chair to come to her aid. Claire looked up curiously, then flashed a smile once she realized it was him. "What are you doing here?" He questioned, realizing that him running to her rescue when she was in no real danger might seem a bit silly.

"I was wondering if you guys had gotten the pluming working. I kind of need a shower" She explained, looking a little embarrassed as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Charlie opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Desmond as he jumped off the little step latter he'd been using to reach the wires.

"Yeah, its all done. Go right ahead" He assured, flashing Claire a friendly smile which Charlie took a flirtatious. "Thanks" Claire replied appreciatively, and squeezed between the two in order to make her way down the hall and into the little bath room.

Charlie turned away from Desmond, ignoring the urge he had to punch him in the face for smiling in Claire's direction, and watched as Claire disappeared behind the door. A dreamy grin stretched across his face as he recalled the memory from last night when she'd kissed him.

"You alright, brother?" Desmond questioned, eyeing Charlie with an all-knowing grin. "Huh?" Charlie questioned, snapping out of his dazed look. "And here I though she said she was single" Desmond noted, looking over Charlie's bashfully expression in amassment. Charlie eyed him curiously, wondering how the man would have thought anything about Claire, especially about her marital status.

But before he had a chance to ask, Desmond walked off. Sighing, Charlie went back to the task of dragging the arm chair back into the living room. He managed to get it through the door way much easier then the couch, and had it back in its spot with only a minimum of effort. Once finished, he whipped the sweat from his brow and headed down the hall, kicking papers out of his way for Locke to pick up.

He walked past the door to the bath room, pausing for a moment when he heard the sound of humming. The shower wasn't running yet, which meant she was probably changing. Before Charlie could stop it, the image fluttered into his mind, bringing a smile on his face that enabled him to move away from the door. That was until he was shoved into the opposite wall from behind.

Before Charlie knew what was going on, he hit the steel wall at full force, having only a second to catch his breath before being swung around and slammed against it again, this time with his back to the wall and a large pair of hands clutching his shift. Charlie tried to open his eyes, feeling a sudden nausea and a pounding in his head. He managed to get them open about half way, watching through blurred eyes as a fist came straight towards his face.

He felt the blow crack his nose, and a painful warmth rush through his nose as it began to bleed, his head throbbing at full speed as his skull was knocked back into the cement for a third time. He lifted his hands to his face as the dropped to the ground, no longer able to stand up.

He could hear struggling in the hall way and knew that who ever attacked him was now paying some sort of price. He managed to open his eyes, looking up from his spot on the floor and watching as Echo slammed Locke against the wall near the bathroom door, much as he'd done with Charlie.

"What is wrong with you?" Echo questioned angrily, looking Locke dead in the eye with a protective flare. Before Locke could response in his jarred state, the bath room door opened and Claire stepped out, clutching a plain white towel around herself as she emerged from the door.

"What's going on?" She questioned, worried there'd been another explosion. "He was standing by the door!" Locke explained, having some difficultly speaking with Echo's large hands clutched at the caller of his shirt. Claire's eyes shifted from him to Charlie who remained huddled on the floor, his hand over his nose which had begun to bleed.

"Charlie!" She explained, eyes growing wide as she quickly knelt down in front of him, clasping her towel shut with one hand as she reached out the other to examine his nose. Locke eyed the seen in confusion, wondering why she was suddenly so quick to run to his aide.

"Are you alright?" She questioned, moving Charlie's had so she could study the damage on his face. There was some bruising and a little blood, but from what she could tell, his nose hadn't been broken. "I'm fine" Charlie assured, shooting Locke a bitter look before turning back to Claire, happy to have her taking care of him again.

She pouted sympathetically and gave him her hand, offering to help him up. Charlie took it and used the wall as support, slowly moving himself up ward. His legs still felt a little shaky as he stood, but Claire's hand on his shoulder gave him the strength he needed to stand up. Once she knew he was ok, Claire turned her head back to Locke, shooting him a confused look.

"You did this?" She questioned insistently, her hand remaining against Charlie's chest as if she was protecting him. Locke continued to look confused, like a dog who had done something wrong but didn't understand why everyone was now yelling at him. He looked back and forth from her to Echo, wondering who he should fear more. He couldn't bring himself to look at Charlie, who's face was covered in blood at his fault.

"He was standing by the door. I thought he was going to hurt you" Locke stammered nervously, making no attempt to free himself from Echo's grip. "Charlie would never hurt me! Are you insane?" Claire questioned defensively, her voice rising with anger.

"He lied to you, Claire! He stole your son!" Locke yelled defensively, wondering if everyone had just magical forgotten. This made no sense. Last time he checked, Charlie was a danger to her and her son. Now, out of no where, she was defending him.

"I didn't lie!" Charlie insisted, aggravated that after all this time, no one seemed to believe him. "I think you should leave" Echo intervened, giving Locke a forcefully look that told him his suggestion was a demand and not a request. Locke signed as Echo released the grip on his shirt, wondering if everyone around him had gone mad as he stormed down the hall.

"Are you alright?" Echo asked in concern, turning his attention to Charlie. "Yeah, I'm fine" Charlie assured, whinching as a sharp pain ran through his head. Claire laid her hand on his cheek, a worried look across her face.

"You should get him cleaned up" Desmond suggested, appearing in the other side of the hall. He must have been standing there the whole time. Claire nodded and took Charlie's hand, guiding him into the bath room. He took a seat on top of the toilet and watched as she turned on the faucet, wetting a rag that had been hanging on a little hook above his head.

She knelt down and dabbed under his nose gently, not wanting to hurt him. Charlie kept his winching to a minimum, trying not to look to whimpy. Claire smiled, amused by his attempt to be macho as she pressed the rag to his upper lip, carefully whipping the blood away.

"So...what exactly were you doing by the door?" Claire questioned, a playfully hint in her voice. Charlie's face went red. "Nothing.." He replied innocently, not wanting to confess that he was imagining her undressing. Claire raised her eye brow skeptically, but soon faded into a smile as she ran the rag down his cheek, cleaning up the trail of blood that had rolled down there.

He smiled softly, the closeness and the touch of their hand bringing memories from the night before fluttering through his head. He closed his eyes gently, as if by instinct alone, and slowly leaned in, anticipating the feel of her delicate lips against his.

A loud, distorted hiss roared through the speakers, shaking them out of the moment and back into the hatch, where lights in the hall were flashing and doors were beginning to slam. Charlie hopped up quickly, ready to investigate, when the door to the bathroom slammed shut, as if it had been pushed, and locked on its own. Charlie slammed into the door, violently giggling the handle in an attempt to open it before resign to banging his fist against the wall in order to get someone's attention.

"Charlie..." Claire questioned worriedly, clutching the towel to her chest as a frightened look crossed her face. "Don't worry, its ok." He assured, shooting her a comforting glance over his shoulder before once again trying the knob. No luck. They were trapped.


	2. Chapter 2

Alabelle: Yeah, this one's pretty different from my usual fluffy fic, but I couldn't go without putting some C/C romance in there.

pacejunkie: Yeah, I came up with it once I realized that Henry Gale was the guy from Saw, and seeing him in the hatch like that just gave me an idea, and I decided to make a fic out of it. Plus, there's an odd mixture of Characters with a lot of tension going on, so that should help to make it interesting.

Babybrothalova: Glad you liked it. 

"What just happened?" Echo questioned, looking around in confusion as the speaker's stopped their rapid static and the room was filled with a eerie silence. "Fuck if I know" Desmod replied in bewilderment, trying to catch his breath as he climbed down from the later. 

"Did you trip a wire?" Sayid questioned, automatically looking for a logical excuse. "I don't think so. All the wire's I was just working on do is run the kitchen supplies" Desmond explained with a shrug, unable to give a decent explanation. 

"Maybe it has something to do with the computer. How long has it been since we've pressed the button?" Echo questioned, worried they 'ed some how missed the cue. 

"I just pressed it a few minutes ago" Sayid explained, although, it was hard to be sure since the count down was no longer working. 

"Maybe it didn't register because of the count down box being broken" Desmond noted worriedly, shooting an awkward glance towards the distorted box which once ran his life, and now was nothing more then a bent up hunk of metal. 

For a moment, the men were silent, pausing in thought as they all searched for some sort of explanation. Once they 'ed quieted down, the sound of banging and distant shouting in the hall way filled their ears. 

"I think your little British friend might have gotten himself hurt again" desmond noted casually, as if all this was just another part of island life. 

"He usually dose" Sayid agreed with a sigh, and pushed himself up from his position at the computer to go investigate. Desmond, out of habit, had slid one of the metal carts under one of the doors before it dropped, and Sayid ducked beneath it in order to make his way into the hall. 

"Locke!" He called, a look of confusion crossing his face when he spotted the disoriented old man standing in the hall way. Locke looked over to him on confusion, as if he was a little mouse that had just been startled by an elephant, and was now frozen in fear. 

"I thought Echo asked you to leave" Sayid spoke in a low, menacing tone that made the fragile Locke all the more nervous. 

"The door locked before I could leave" He explained, shaking slightly. Sayid ignored his freighted behavior, seeing it as nothing more as a side effect from the explosion earlier. 

"Get away from the door" He instructed firmly, as if commanding one of his soldiers. Locke gave an offended look, but did as Sayid told and stepped back from the door, giving him room to intervene. 

"Charlie, are you alright?" Sayid questioned, leaning against the steel door as he patiently waited for a response. "Yeah. We're fine. What the bloody hell's going on?" Charlie questioned smartly, always ready to panic. 

"I'm not sure" Sayid replied with a sigh, wishing he had a better explanation. His words were fallowed by a short pause. "Not sure? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Charlie insisted angrily, his voice rising in alarm. 

"Charlie!" Claire scolded from behind the door. Sayid couldn't help but smile. Here they were trapped in a hatch after it had malfunctioned and trapped them inside, and Claire still didn't see this as an opportunity to curse. 

"This happed before" Locke muttered under his breath as he wondered down the hall, looking around as if he was reliving the moment. Sayid shoot him a curious look before turning back to the door. 

"Locke say's this has happened before" Sayid explained, hoping that Locke's words would ease their fear until further notice, although he didn't really find Locke's ramblings all that convincing. Another pause. 

"Locke's a bloody lunatic!" Charlie replied, bluntly expressing his opinion. Sayid sighed again, knowing they wouldn't have bought it. Locke continued to mumbled the words over and over again as he felt the walls, as if he were searching for something the rest of them couldn't see. 

"Yes. I can see that" Sayid noted, wondering why he ever thought they would have taken Locke's words seriously in the first place. 

"Just try to relax. We're working on it" Sayid assured, and without another word, made his way back into the computer room. Charlie's fist hit the door in frustration, the fear of once again being trapped in a very confined area when danger seemed so close causing him to freak out. 

Claire pushed herself off the wall and came to his side, gently laying her hands on his arm and lowering it from its post against the door, taking hold of his hand with both of hers and placing it to her lips. 

Charlie smiled, the kind gesture calming his nerves as he forgot about the fear of being blown into bits and focused instead on the fluttering in his heart when ever Claire came near him. 

Perhaps being trapped in a confined space with her wasn't so bad after all. 


	3. Chapter 3

Pacejunkie: I think there might be a bit of confusion. Charlie and Claire are trapped in the bathroom, like you origonaly thought, and yes, Claire is just wearing the towel. All the others are in the room with the computer. Sorry if its a bit hard to keep track, but since I don't have a map of the hatch I just have to go off my own idea of where everything is.

Alabelle: Yeah, Lockes pretty much lost it. Then again, we can't really blame him. I think almost destroying the world would drive any of us a little nuts.

Babybrothalova: I know. Everyone should pay more attention to Charlie.

Hatch

"Did you try the wires?" Sayid asked, after ducking under the door way that remained suspended over the beat up metal cart. "Yeah. Everything's working" Desmond explained in bewilderment as he hopped down from his step latter.

"Is everyone out there ok?" Echo questioned, giving an indicating glace towards the hall Sayid had just emerged from. "They're locked in the bathroom" Sayid replied with a blank expression, as if things couldn't make any less sense. The men stared at him for a moment, not sure what to think of the statement.

"That door dosen't Lock" Desmond noted after a moment, eyeing Sayid curiously. "In that case, its stuck" Sayid corrected himself. "Either way, the door isn't opening" He confirmed, although the fact that a regular door managed to get stuck during a lock down did seem a little unusual. Then again, what about the hatch didn't seem unusual?

"So, how do we get them out" Echo questioned, not likeing the whole idea of them being stuck in such a small space. If something else happened, they'd have no where to run.

"Maybe we could break down the door" Sayid suggested, after all, there had to be something in this place heavy enough to brake down a simple wooden door. "Trust me. If that door is stuck, its stuck for a reason. There's no breaking it down" Desmond confirmed, shaking his head.

"Then what are we going to do?" Echo questioned impatiently. Desmond sighed and shrugged in response, hoping to find an explanation soon.

Meanwhile...

"How long do you think we'er gonna be in here?" Claire questioned, looking up at Charlie as she sat on top of the toilet seat, hugging herself for warmth. Charlie glanced down, trying to ignore the eye full of cleavage in plain vision from where he was standing.

"Hard to tell" He replied with a shrug, hands shoved in his pockets as he leaned back against the door, keeping his eyes on the floor to avoid staring at the abundance of flawless bare skin displayed before him. Claire let out a small sigh, worrying about leaving her son at the beach as she jiggled her crossed, looking aimlessly around the confined little bathroom.

"You know, we might be in here a while. If you want I can turn around so you can, you know.. get dressed" Charlie offered nervously as he scratched the back of his head, worried she might take his suggestion as some kind of excuse to see her naked.

"Actually, if you don't mind, I still need to take my shower..." she explained, feeling a little awkward for even mentioning. If it wasn't an emergency, she would have just done as he'd suggested and got dressed. But it had been almost a week and she didn't walk all the way down here for nothing. Besides, it would be a while before she'd make Sun watch Aaron again.

"Its fine with me" Charlie assured, trying to sound casual. "Thanks" Claire smiled appreciatively as she rose to her feet, glad to know he understood. Charlie turned towards the door, doing his best to keep his eyes from roaming as he heard the plastic shower curtain swoosh open and he towel drop to the cold metal floor moments later.

The water came on with a loud hiss, causing the pipes to sing as Claire waited for the temperature of the water to rise before stepping inside and pulling the curtain shut behind her.

Once she was in, Charlie turned back around, letting out the breath he'd been holding for what seemed like an eternity.

Not only was he stuck in a narrow bathroom with his newly acquired claustrophobia, but now he was closed in with a beautiful naked women, the steam rising from her shower filling his lungs, making it hard for him to breath.

Not because it was suffocating, but because it made him all the more aware of what lied just beyond that thin strip of plastic.

Another loud hiss echoed through the tiny bathroom, and this time it wasn't from the pipes. The speaker's roared with static as the beeping began to sound, a crackled voice trying to make its way through.

Charlie's eyes flashed up ward to where the sound was comeing from, falling flat on his back as the he'd been leaning against flung open.


	4. Chapter 4

alabelle: lol. Sorry about that. It was suposed to say " falling flat on his back as the door he'd been leaning against flung open". Guess I need to do a better spell check next time, huh?

samdean4567: If I told you that would ruin the story!

Spice of life: Yeah, Charlie needs some lovin. And I would gladly give it to him!

It took him a moment to bring the air back into his lungs, having the wind knocked out of him for what seemed like the hundredth time today.

He pushed himself up on his elbows, glancing to his left as he watched the big metal door at the end of the hall rise back up into the ceiling as if it had never existed.

He stared at it for a moment in confusion, wondering what the hell was going on as the beeping and static continued.

The shower turned off and Claire's arm reached out from the bottom, grabing a hold of her towl and pulling it back behind the curtain before emerging a moment later with it wraped tightly around her body.

"What's going on?" She questioned, shouting over the hissing speakers as she held the towel to her chest, hair dripping wet as it fell around her shoulders.

Charlie held onto the side of the wall as he pulled himself up, his body throbbing. For a guy his size, all this body slamming into metal was not doing him much good.

"Charlie!" A voice called from the room at the end of the hall. "What's happening?" He questioned initially, poking his head out of the door way. "Come out of there. I don't want you guys getting traped" Echo instructed, waving them over from inside the room where the computer was kept. Charlie turned to Claire, checking to see if she'd gotten the message.

She reached out and took hold of his hand, gripping tightly as she used the other to hold her towel shut. Charlie lead them out into the hall way, moving slowly, as if one wrong step would trigger some kind of missile to go off and kill them all. The speakers rumbled over head, causing the walls to tremble under the pressure of the sound, making it seem as if the whole hall way was shaking.

Charlie stayed close to the wall, holding Claire close at his side, worried something from the ceiling might fall and crush her. They'd just barely made it into the hall when the door to the bathroom slam shut, and the large steel door at the end of the hall emerged from the sealing and slammed down before the pair could even recover from the startle of the first slam.

Claire clung to his chest, holding onto him as if he were the only thing keeping her from being harmed by all of the slamming and hissing over head. The static was fallowed by a loud drown, as if a machine was shutting down. The lights flickered over head as the volume of the speakers rung in their ears. As the sound faded, so did the light around them, and with in seconds, it was pitch black and silent.

"Charlie" Claire whispered, her arms squeezed around his waist. Charlie pulled his arms around her in an attempt to comfort her, letting her know everything was gonna be ok.

"Don't worry. Its just the electricity screwing up" He assured, although he doubted that was actually the reason. Claire nodded, accepting his explanation in hopes that her fear would subsided, feeling a sudden chill as the cool air settled in against her skin.

"Is everyone ok?" Sayid questioned, looking around the room which was almost completely dark except for little bit of light coming off of the computer screen.

"Yeah" Desmond replied, a loud crash fallowing his voice as he moved away from the book shelf he'd been leaning against, giving a few heavy books room to fall. He stumbled through the dark, making his way towards the computer so that he could see.

"I'm fine" Echo assured, his voice booming eerily in the darkness. "Everyone's fine?" Sayid confirmed, feeling as if something was out of pace.

Echo and Desmond were both visible in the dim light of the computer, and the two both nodded in confirmation.

"Everyone alright out there?" Sayid called, leaning against the metal door that had shut completely after the metal cart had rolled away due to vibrations in the floor.

"Yeah. We're fine" Charlie assured, trying to sound confident in order to keep Claire from getting to afraid. He could feel her shaking as she clung against him, he wasn't sure if it was from fear or from cold but either way he held her tight, doing his best to aid with both.

"Ok..." Sayid sighed in relief, not sure what to do next. Then it dawned on him. Something was out of place. Something was missing.

He wasn't the only one it had dawned upon. The three men trapped in the darkened room exchanged glances, all sharing the same thought.

"where's Locke?"


	5. Chapter 5

Allabelle: Yeah, they did tell lock to leave, but he ended up getting trapped inside, and is now missing again. Just thought I'd clear that up.

Meganfritz: lol. Yeah, I'm sure Charlie would be very happy to have a naked Claire running around, although the fact that other men can see might not be to pleasing. Glad you liked it so far. I'll try to keep up the suspense.

Spice of Life: lol. Yeah, Locke's a douche. He used to be cool, but no one can mess with Charlie.

Next

Locke stumbled throug the hall way, clinging to the walls to guide him as he made his way down the hall. He was panicking. Trying to remeber what had happened in his mind. Everything jumbled up and confused. He couldn't quite place it.

There was a ruble in the distance that cought his attention. He looked towards the sound, though at first, he couldn't see a thing. But as the door to the storage room rolled open, he could make out a light from inside. It was small, not enough to give any form of iliumination. Curious to see what it was, he moved forward, a bit afriad to leave the wall he'd pressed himself against, knowing there was plenty of clutter for him to trip over in the space between him and the room where they'd held their prisoner not to long ago.

But the little blinking light was there for a reason, and he was going to find it. He walked slowly with his arms streched out befor him like a zombie as he made his way across the cluttered room, careful not to bump into anything.

After what seemed like an eternity of slow steps and tripping over random object across the floor he made it to the door way, holding onto the door fram as he pered inside. He couldn't see very well. The blinknig light remained in the corner, and he would have to walk inside in order to figure out what it was. He took a deep breath and steeped forward so that he was now inside the room, turning quickly as the door rolled shut behind him. He turned around in a panic, trying to grab hold of it before it shut completly. No use. It was now locked. Completly dark except for the blinking light.

"Hey! Someone open the door!" Locke shouted in a panic, banging his fist against the steel door. His brow began to sweat in alarm as he tried his best to grab the other's attention. "Let me out!" He begged, feeling as if he would suffocate in the tiny dark room. It was no use. They couldn't hear him. He let out a heavy sigh as he leaned against the wall, breathing hard as he tried to calm himself down.

The sound of panting and his heart beating rapidly in his chest pounded in his ears, worping his all to fragile mind before another sound emerged. The low, sinister and distubing sound of laughter erupting from the corner where the tiny light cotenuied to blink.

Meanwhile...

Charlie and Claire had lowered themselves to the floor. If they were going to be stuck in that hall way all night, there was no point in standing up. Chalrie sat with his back against the wall, mindlesly running his fingers through Clairs dripping hair as she curled up in his lap, her arms still around his waist, although they weren't squeezing quite as tightly now that she was almost asleep.

He lead his head back and let his eyes fall shut, listoning to the soft sound of foot steps on the other side of the big steel door as the men shuffled around, trying to figure out how to get the doors back open. Desmond had tried messing with the wires, but nothing seemed to be working. What ever force that was controlling the doors seemed to know alot more about the hatch then he did.

He contenuied to pace back and forth as he raked his mind, wondering how this was posible. Sayid watched him from his position on the floor, leaning back against the leg of the table which the computer rested on with heavy eyes.

"Could you please stop that" He questioned drowsily, his voice low and weighted with exaustion. "Sorry" Desmond replied, instantly stoping in his tracks after realizing he'd been doing it. He let out a big sigh before heading over to the corner and taking a seat on the floor. If they'er were gonna be here all night, they might as well try to get some sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Alabelle: Thanks! I'll try.**

**Spice of life: lol. Yeah, man. Screw Locke. And yes, poor Claire is still running around in a towel.**

**Hey everyone, I apologize for the delay. I've been working on three stories at once and I got a little lost in the newer two and practicaly forgot all about this one. Plus I was a bit out of ideas. Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon, and keep an eye out for the other two stories as well. **

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Claire knelt down at the edge of a little streem not far from the edge of the jungle. She balenced her self on a rock as she reached her hands into the cool little stream, washing them off.

The sound of crunch leaves filled her ears and she looked up instictivly, watching as Locke emerged from the trees only a few feet away.

"Hello" She said with a friendly smile, wondering why Locke was out wondering around.

"There's something you need to see" Locke explained, his voice low and serious though a smile remained on his face. It was almost as if he wasn't actualy talking to her at all. His mouth moved allong with the words, but it seemed as if someone else was filling in his actual voice.

Claire gave him a confused look, not to sure what he was saying. "There is?" She asked curiously, raising an eye brow.

"Come on. There's not much time" Locke insisted, with the same ergancy in his voice, although he remained fairly relazed as he stood before her with his hands in his pockets, rocking on his heels as if they had all the time in the world.

Claire wasn't sure to think of what he was requestiong. He was definetly acting strange. She wasn't sure if fallowing him was a good idea.

He waited paitently, a complete contradiction to the words he'd just spoken, as Claire stared up at him, studying him for any signs of alian activity.

"Claire, we'er heading back" A voice rose from behind her. Claire turned her head to see Jack, allong with a few other of her fellow castaways who had been walking past, pausing to wait for her. None of them seemed to notice Locke.

Claire glanced at the group for a moment, then back at Locke, surprised to see something rather strage on the tree behind him.

A light pink peice of construction paper had been attatched to the bark of the tree, and a big letter 'C' had been written across it in what looked like yellow craion. Claire stared at the peice of paper for a moment, wondering how it had gotten there, or why it was there to begin with.

With her curiosity peaked, Claire rose, glancing back at the group once again as she dried her hands by rubbing them against her legs. Surprisingly, instead of feeling the cold water from the stream as she'd exspected, she felt something difforent. A warm liquid, much thicker then water.

She looked downward at her legs, curious to see what was wrong with the water on her hands, and was surpriesed to find that the stream had somehow managed to turn red with in a matter of seconds.

The moisture on her hands and against her thighs were both a tinted shade of red, the water having thined it out.

She stared at her skin for a moment in confusion before looking down at the pond, watching as the tinted red water flowwed over the rocky surface, revealing the distorted face of a doll beneath its blood-shot ripples.

"Times up"


	7. Chapter 7

Reveiws

Alabelle: Just to clear things up, it was a dream. A creepy one at that. I actualy got the whole idea from this chapter from a dream, which included a bunch of random letters poping up in the middle of a jungle. I'm not sure what that was about, but I thought It would make a good story.

Meganfritz: Yeah, thats what I thought when I had that dream. Freaky.

Spice of Life: Yes. Yes it was. I'll do my best to update soon so that you won't have to suffer from the confusion for to long.

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Charlie continued to toy with Claire's hair as she slept in his lap, unable to sleep. He was to concerned with the situation they were in, wondering what the hell was wrong with the hatch and why it was suddenly on the frits.

His mind was racing with possibilities, each more unsettling then the last. No matter what was going on, something was wrong.

If it weren't for his wish to keep from worrying Claire, he would probably be panicking. But panicking wouldn't do much good now.

Even if he wasn't protecting Claire, there still was nothing he could do. All he could do for now was to guard Claire, to comfort her and keep her safe in their secluded hall way while the men in the other room worked on finding a way out.

It wasn't until Claire shifted slightly in his lap, her body trembling just barely, that he was snapped out of his daze.

He looked down and watched as Claire's and grabbed hold of his shirt, gripping it tightly in her small fist as her lips moved without sound, muttering something so softly that he had no clue as to what she was saying.

"Claire" He spoke quiet but firmly, resting his hand on her shoulder. Then, to his surprise, she sat up, her long blonde stands that were still pretty soaked falling over her face, making her expression hard to read.

Charlie wanted in confusion as she rolled her head back, the hair falling out of her face as she looked up ward, although her eyes remained closed.

It became apparent that she was still dreaming, and was beginning to start walking in her sleep. Charlie knew it would be best to wake her, but was finding it difficult to come up with a way to do so.

Before he could come up with a plan, Claire was on her feet, continuing to stare at the same insignificant spot on the wall. Charlie watched in concern and slowly rose to his feet, using the wall as support.

After having her curled up in his lap for such a long period of time, his legs had fallen asleep, and they were going to be just as hard to wake up as she would be. Finally he managed to stand up completely, coming to eye level with Claire and blocking the space she'd been looking at.

"Claire" He spoke, giving her a questioning look, a bit freighted by her strange behavior. Her eyes opened suddenly, flashing with surprise as she came face to face with Charlie out of no where, bewildered by his sudden presence.

Her quick awakening had startled Charlie as well, and he'd let out a little cry of shock as he pressed himself back against the wall, worried she'd been possessed and was about to attack.

But instead Claire simply looked around in confusion, trying to understand how she'd gotten from the jungle to here in such a short time. The transition left her with a dizzy and weak feeling, causing the dim hall to go in and out of focus as she looked around.

Charlie could see her begin to sway and knew from her expression that she was abount to drop. He reached out his hands and placed them on either side of her shoulders, doing his best to keep her steady as he slowly lowered her down.

Once she was sitting, she felt a little more at ease. The world wasn't spinning quite so much and the warmth from his hands took away the eerie chill the dream had left her with. Now all she had to burden her was her confusion.

"What happened?" Charlie questioned, curious to know what she'd seen in her dream that had been powerfully enough to endues sleep walking.

Claire thought for a moment, trying to remember what she had seen. Strange as it seemed, in the short few moments it took for her to wake up, she'd forgotten. The dream was now no more then a faint, distant memory. And yet the uneasy feeling still remained.

"I can't remember" She explained, her voice soft as she stared at the floor. Charlie studied her in concern, trying to decipher rather she was actually unable to remember or she just didn't want to tell him.

After a moment he gave in, deciding that either way, it would be best to just forget about it.

Mean while...

The men in the other room remained comfortably asleep in the silent dark, un bothered by the sounds of Charlie and Claire's voices as he tried to calm her back down enough to sleep. Despite their desperate situation, things seemed calm.

Peacefully. No one felt as if they were in any real danger. The feeling gave them the ability to relax, stay rational. To sleep.

But it didn't keep them from waking at this slightest hint of danger, like the sound of foot steps against the metallic floor of the room they resided.

Sayid was the first to wake, his eyes snapping open instantly although they were little use to him in the dark.Echo awoke a moment later, slowly lifting his head and turning to Sayid, who was no more then a dark shadow in the dimly lit room.

Still, he managed to communicate by nodding his head, confirming that he heard the sound. They tried not to jump to conclusions. After all, the noises could just be Desmond pacing about once again. Sayid tried to look to the corner where he'd been sleeping but couldn't tell rather or not he was still there.

Once he gave up on straining to see, he turned back to Echo, trying to come up with a plan. Echo looked around for a moment, just to be sure, but could see nothing as well.

He turned back to Sayid, but before he could began to even think of a way to communicate his idea, there was a loud humming sound, as if a machine had just started up.

The two froze instantly, unsure what was going on. The humming grew louder and soon the lights began to flicker. That's when Desmond woke up.


	8. Chapter 8

Megenfritz: Thanks.

Alabelle: Thanks. I'll update soon as I can.

Spice of life: Haha, thats great. I have lost dreams all the time. Exspecialy when its been off for a while. Its like I'm having withdraws. Exspecialy now, what with the promis of sex scenes in the future and all.

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"You should be!" Charlie teased, managing to make her laugh once again. "I felt like I was coming face to face with Samara" He continued, knowing that his attempt was working.

She was smiling comfortably now and the laughter came out strong. If he kept it up she'd forget about her crazy dream in no time and be able to sleep without having to worry.

"Next time I will try to be less terrifying" Claire confirmed playfully with a roll of her eyes. Charlie smiled, glad to see her recovering from it so quickly.

He remembered how long it took him to recover from his own sleep walking and felt a bit upset to know that he hadn't quite done it yet.

"Good. Cause if that happens again you might literally scare the shit out of me" He confirmed sarcastically, although their was some slight truth in his words.

"Oh, that was graphic!" Claire noted, making a face of disgust. "Sorry" Charlie replied, genuinely embarrassed. Claire smiled in order to make him feel a little less ashamed.

"You should be" She replied playfully, flashing a revengeful grin. Charlie laughed. The tables had ben turned. Oh well. Two could play this game.

He opened his mouth, ready with his own smart come back, but was interrupted by a loud humming sound that seemed to be coming from all sides.

Claire jumped and practically fell into to Charlie's lap, griping his hand tightly now by instinct as the lights around them began to flicker.

"Not again" Charlie groaned, no longer frightened by the hatch's malfunctions. He was still under the impression that it was no more then some kind of glitch, and there for had no real reason to be afraid, only annoyed by its inconvenience.

But Claire, on the other had, seemed to know that something was wrong. That the sounds and movements were caused by more then a mechanical glitch.

That something very, very bad was just waiting to happen. She couldn't understand why she had the feeling but it haunted her none the less, making her grip on Charlie's hand all the more tights as the doors on either side of the hall began to open.

"Come on" Charlie suggested as he glanced towards the door, knowing thatit would be closing again in a moment andthinking it best for them all to be in the same room.

He rose to his feet, keeping a protective hold on Claire's hand despite his lack of concern as he helped her up, giving her some time to adjust her towel before he lead her down the hall.

The two moved quickly, unsure of when the door might come crashing down. The simple act of stepping through the door way was frightening, but Charlie managed to get himself and Claire through safely, just in time to here the door come falling swiftly behind them.

Claire watched the door come down with wide eyes as she squeezed Charlie's hand, knowing that if they would have gotten in just a second later, they 'ed be crushed.

Charlie's arms were wrapped around her waist, holding her protectively. And now that the need for panic had died down, he once again became aware of her lack of clothing as she breathed heavily in his arms, her body pressed against his.

The feeling only lasted for a moment before the lights went out, and he became aware of the commotion going on in the room they had just entered.

He could see nothing in the dark but heard sounds of a struggle and turned quickly, holding onto Claire as if will power alone would keep her safe.

One of the doors to the room still remained open, and he watched as a shadow moved through it just in time to see it come crashing down with in the second who ever it was had escaped. The the lights were all gone, and nothing but the blinking dot on the computer screen remained.

"What's going on?" Charlie questioned, wondering why anyone would want to leave this room. His voice was fallowed by the sound of heavy breathing as Sayid pushed himself to his feet, using the table as support.

"Are you two alright?" He questioned urgently, anger and fear both present in his voice. Charlie nodded in response, but realized the gesture was pointless in the dark and gave a proper response instead.

"Were fine" He confirmed, wrapping his arm around Claire's shoulder to be sure she was safe. He could feel her shaking against him and knew that she was afraid. He was beginning to worry that she might have a good reason to be after all.

"What happened?" He repeated, becoming more aware of the signs of a struggle. In the dark he could make out shapes on the floor, as if they 'ed been knocked down in a fight.

He could make out Sayid's out line in the dark, and from the way he was leaning over the computer desk, could tell he was hurt.

"There was a man in the room. One of them" Sayid explained through a sharp but shaky voice. Claire turned to Charlie with wide eyes, trying to decipher what this meant. Charlie understood right away what he meant by 'one of them' and pulled Claire a bit closer.

"How is that possible?" He questioned, wondering how any of them managed to get into the hatch, let alone this very room with all the doors locked down.

"I have no clue" Sayid replied breathlessly, staggering as he worked his way around the table.

"He used the control panel like Desomond usual did to make the doors open. We couldn't tell that it wasn't one of us until the lights began to flicker.

Once I realized that it was one of the others me and Echo tried to stop him. He stabbed in the leg with something. Some kind of nettle" Sayid explained, his voice continued to quake unsteadily as he limped around the desk, making his way over to them.

Claire's eyes filled with desperation as she remembered her own encounter with being injected by one of the other's nettles. She clutched at Charlie's shirt and he laid his hand on top of hers comfortingly, waiting for Sayid to continue.

"After that I couldn't more. Echo tried to take him on but the man was stronger then we'd expected. He pushed him through one of the doors and-" He didn't have to finish. They both saw it happen, they were just to oblivious at the time to know what was going on.

Charlie bowed his head, feeling a bit guilty for not at least trying to help. Either way, there was nothing they could do about it now. All they could do was wait and hope that the others did not harm Echo to badly before they had a chance to save them.

For a long moment it was silent. Charlie ran his hand up and down the side of Claire's arm, doing his best to comfort her and calm her shaking.

He kept his eyes on Sayid, watching for any signs of pain. God only knew what they 'ed injected him with, and if it was strong enough to temporarily paralyze him, there was no telling what the other effects would be.

Luckily, Sayid seemed to be recovering from the incident rather well. He was no longer shaking and could now move around fairly well, although he wasn't moving much. Charlie felt a bit of relief, glad to know that at least the three of them were ok. That's when it hit him.

"Wait. Where's Desmond?" He questioned, knowing that there had been three in the room. Sayid looked confused at first, then his expression changed to alarm as he became aware of the other mans absence.

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Alright, kids. Thats the end of this chapter. Sorry its taking so long but I'm working on three stories at once and this one is definetly the hardest. I plan on having alot of updates today so keep your eyes out! 


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